MINI gets ‘cleanest car’ award for its eco drive

MINI has gleaned the cleanest car in Ireland accolade as part of a survey carried out by Motorcheck.ie. Fiat, Seat Lexus and Renault also made it into the top 5, based on how they have been tackling their carbon footprint, according to the survey.

Motorcheck.ie carried out the study by looking at new car registrations for 2011. The study analysed the official CO2 output for more than 89,000 individual cars registered new in 2011.

Motorcheck.ie’s managing director Shane Teskey said MINI topped the poll due to its average CO2 of 117.12 grammes per kilometre.

The MINI was followed closely by manufacturers Fiat and Seat, with 118.83 and 119.78 respectively, he said.

"When we began this analysis, we had no idea which individual brand would come out on top. The level of technology being embraced by car manufacturers to reduce the carbon footprint of their vehicles is staggering," said Teskey.

Of late, car manufacturers around the globe have been vying to come up with the cleanest technologies, ramping up their hybrid and electric car portfolios in order to stay apace with cutting CO2 emissions and also due to rising fuel prices as a result of issues such as energy security.

Top 10 Cleanest Cars – Motorcheck.ie

Car

CO2 output

MINI

117.12

FIAT

118.83

SEAT

119.78

LEXUS

121.63

RENAULT

122.35

VOLKSWAGEN

122.68

CITROEN

124.01

SUZUKI

124.41

FORD

124.67

MAZDA

125.32

Motorcheck.ie itself provides vehicle history information for any vehicle registered in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.

Morris Mini-Minor 1959. "621 AOK" was the first Mini off the production line to be badged Morris. It was never sold, and is now kept at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, UK